Power outages, space heater fires and hydroplaning, oh my: every autumn in Grays Harbor, residents get to contend with the realities of the Dark Months while living somewhere cool, coastal and excessively rainy and think, ah, yes, what fun.

Various public safety agencies put together a few common-sense tips for residents to sashay past disaster and hasten their return to the sun with a minimum of muss.

“A lot of our safety tips are common sense, like, oh, I already know this,” said Kara McDermott, firefighter and public information officer for the Ocean Shores Fire Department. “We all need reminders.”

Space Heaters

While a warm fire on a rainy evening sounds nice in theory, this dreamy vision is somewhat less ideal if the fire is one’s whole house. October is a bad month for fires, said Aberdeen Fire’s fire services specialist Mitch Housden, with last year seeing a huge spike in calls as people relight long-dormant fireplaces, drag out space heaters, or set out candles — and promptly set their residences on fire.

October was one of the busiest months of 2022, Housden said in a phone interview. “The temperature dropped, people started putting space heaters out there.”

Space heaters are a big issue. High power draw can cause material failures in extension cords or power strips, leading to fire, Housden said.

“We recommend (plugging) into the outlet at the wall,” Housden said. “They plug in those things and they draw too much power, causing them to overheat. They go to sleep, walk away, and there’s your fire.”

A common thread in fires is not paying attention to heat sources, McDermott said. Killing power to a heat source is a good first step if a resident sees the fire while it’s still small and manageable, Housden said.

“As the weather gets chillier, people might find different ways to keep their home warm. We want people to be cautious with that,” McDermott said. “They should be turned off if you’re sleeping or not in the room. They’re not meant to replace centralized heating systems. You want to keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from those.”

Fires involving space heaters and baseboard heaters frequently start because something flammable got too close to the heating element, McDermott said.

“It’s a good opportunity to check where your furniture is, your curtains,” McDermott said. “Move things away from your heaters as you’re turning them on.”

Shutting your doors in the house can stop the spread of a fire, Housden said. If the worst should come to pass, and you are compelled to evacuate your residence, shutting the door behind you can slow the spread and choke off the feed of oxygen, Housden said.

“Shut your doors. It stops the feed of the fire,” Housden said. “It takes a lot longer for the fire to burn through the door than to run through the open doorway. It’ll follow the path of least resistance.”

Perils of open flame

Fireplaces are also a common source of fires — though not necessarily in the way one might initially think.

“We don’t go to too many calls where it’s the actual fireplace itself,” Housden said. “Usually it’s the chimney.”

A dirty or leaky chimney can see fires start in different parts of the house, such as the attic, where it’s hard to detect at first and hard to root out, Housden said.

“That first fire can be problematic,” McDermott said. “You want to get your chimney inspected at least once a year. You want to make sure it’s clean and ready to go.”

Candles are another common fire source, McDermott said, even the large scented jar candles.

“Candles, that’s another biggie as far as things that cause home fires. Candles should be monitored. They shouldn’t be lit in a room you’re not in. They make wonderful battery operated candles,” McDermott said. “Be careful of the jar candles. A lot of those aren’t really meant to be burned for hours and hours on end.”

Generators or open fires with no ventilation should not be used indoors under any circumstances, Housden said. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause headaches, confusion, nausea, vomiting, or death, Housden said.

“It’s something people do and they definitely shouldn’t do. The exhaust will kill you,” Housden said. “You breathe that stuff in, that’s going to kill you more than the fire will kill you.”

Changes in the sorts of materials commonly used in construction and furniture have changed the time you have to escape a house fire from 15 minutes 30 years ago to 3 minutes currently, Housden said.

Kitchen safety

The most common place in the home is the kitchen, a commonly held piece of wisdom goes. Kitchen fire safety is the theme of this year’s National Fire Prevention Week.

“When we think about winter fire safety, I think the top two things we think about are heating and cooking. Fire prevention week is really focusing on heating this year,” McDermott said. “Cooking safety is so important because these are preventable injuries and preventable fires. Cooking safety starts with everyone who’s in the kitchen.”

A kitchen requires constant attention, McDermott said.

“Unattended fires is a biggie in the kitchen. It’s really easy to get distracted in the kitchen,” McDermott said. “We really need people to be focused in the kitchen because things can happen fast. It’s so easy for a hot pad or a towel to sneak near that flame and it can catch fire really fast.”

Grease fires, subject of holiday blooper reels and cautionary fire department videos, need to be smothered, not watered, McDermott said.

“If you do encounter something like a grease fire, you don’t want to put water on it. That only makes it worse. You want to smother it,” McDermott said. “You want to keep a lid or pan nearby. If something goes haywire, you want to grab that lid and smother it.”

Oven fires can usually be defeated by keeping the door shut, denying it oxygen, and cutting power, McDermott said.

“If you have a fire inside your oven, you want to turn off your oven,” McDermott said. “If it gets out of control, call 911. When in doubt, get out and call for help.”

Kitchens can also be dangerous for kids while cooking is going on. People may say the burned hand teaches best but it’s generally considered good form not to create environments where children may hurt themselves.

“If you have kiddos in the house, we want them to stay three feet away from anything that’s hot. Especially young ones that are curious and want to help,” McDermott said. “Especially when they’re young, we want to keep them away from the hot stuff.”

Rainy roads

Driving too fast, driving too slow, being completely unaware, revving their engines and going 30 miles over the speed limit down a neighborhood road at 3 a.m. for reasons known only to themselves and the gods, Washington drivers are truly prodigies in the field of driving in ways that vary from irritating to outright dangerous. The rain does not help with driving safely, said Trooper Katherine Weatherwax, public information officer for the Washington State Patrol’s District 8.

“Last week the district had 99 collisions, definitely an increase due to weather,” Weatherwax said. “​​The best thing you can do as a driver is slow down and increase following distances.”

The four second rule — remaining four seconds of drive time behind the vehicle in front of you, gauged by using landmarks — gives drivers time to unexpected events, to dodge or hit the brakes.

“The biggest thing is to just slow down. We’ve been pretty spoiled with the drier weather and drier weather conditions,” said Cmdr. Steve Timmons of the Aberdeen Police Department. “It takes a little longer to brake. Give yourself more distance”

That dry weather means there may still be oil residue on many of the county roads exacerbating the slipperiness, Timmons said. Headlights, windshield wipers and tires all contribute to your safety on the road, Timmons said.

“The traction, obviously. When the water’s up on the roadway and you have good tires, you can navigate it a little better,” Timmons said. “It’s not as safe, it’s a little more difficult to handle your vehicle when you have bald tires.”

Hydroplaning, when a vehicle is moving too quickly and the tires aren’t able to make contact with the road, can be handled if you don’t panic, Weatherwax said. Don’t slam on the brakes or accelerate, Weatherwax said, and steer in the direction you want to go.

No one is a perfect driver and even if the gods have blessed you as such, you share the road with those not granted that benison.

“Based on my experience throughout the years, I think there’s an increase in vehicle collisions during the wet months. I recall more collisions during the wetter months,” Timmons said. “People aren’t giving themselves more stopping distance, especially when it’s raining hard. It’s hard to see at times.”

Power outages

Your car is maintained, your driving is calm and patient, your kitchen habits are responsible, your space heater is safely situated. You’re ironclad, bulletproof, untouchable, laughing at the gods of catastrophe and then, bam, a tree gets blown on just a little too hard by the Pacific Northwest winter storm, and suddenly you’re sitting in a dark house that’s rapidly getting colder.

“Here on the coast we are blessed with many, many reasons for outages,” said Ian Cope, the Grays Harbor Public Utility District’s communications and government relations director. “The weather definitely plays into that. For that reason, amongst others, we want people to be prepared for the possibility that the power is going to go out.”

High winds, old trees, ice, motor vehicles striking power lines — all can cause a power outage. This year is set to be an especially damp one, Cope said.

“They’re expecting an El Niño winter, which unfortunately for us means warm, wet and windy. The expectation is for heavy rain and strong winds. The snowpack is also expected to be affected by that,” Cope said. “We are expecting winds and rains on the coast this year. Nothing unusual, but maybe a little more so when seen in years past.”

Cope related that the day of the interview, there had been a number of outages.

“We actually had three outages this morning, just minor ones. But they are a reminder that the fall/winter weather is upon us,” Cope said. “I think all three cases were wire down because of trees down.”

Preparedness starts at home: having a pre-assembled kit for instances of power outages can ease the discomfort considerably, Cope said.

“It’s good to have all that stuff on hand in a place where you know you can find it so you’re not fumbling around in the dark,” Cope said. “Make it easy on yourself when the power goes out by taking time to prepare now.”

Food (including canned food), water, medications, flashlights or candles, battery backups for cell phones, and warm clothes and blankets can all help in the case of prolonged outages, Cope said. He also recommended keeping a generator gassed up if one had one, though cautioning not to operate it indoors or near a door, echoing the fire departments.

“If you do see downed power lines, the number to call is 360-537-3721 or toll free 888-541-5923,” Cope said.

Updates on outages will go out on the PUD’s social media pages and website, Cope said.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.